Argentine ants are a common household pest throughout the state of New Jersey report Monmouth County, NJ pest control professionals. New Jersey residents will find that Argentine ants create shallow nesting sites in soil near buildings, beneath logs, wood, debris, potted plants, or under sidewalks. Argentine ants are easy to distinguish from other types of invasive ant species as these ants are trailing ants.
The Argentine ant nest is often times found to be massive in size due to the fact that the colony has hundreds of reproducing ant queens. Like other ant species, Argentine ants go through the same metamorphosis from eggs, larvae and then adulthood. All adult Argentine ants are the same size. Argentine ants differ from other types of ant species in that they do not exhibit any ant swarming behavior. Argentine ant reproductives instead stay inside of the nest to mate, which enables the nest to continue to thrive.
If the original nesting site becomes overcrowded, a queen will leave the nest to construct a new nest that is located close by. That nesting site is then connected to the old colony which helps to create the massive colony of ants.
Argentine ants are omnivorous creatures but they prefer to consume sweets, honeydew and oily household food products. Argentine ants will send a scout ant into a structure to find a suitable food source, preferably something sweet. Once found, a massive amount of ants will descend upon the structure as the ants will travel up tree trunks and down limbs touching the building, or find the smallest crack in a wall or foundation to gain entry. Once indoors, Argentine ants are extremely difficult to control. Using chemical sprays on the line of ants is useless as they will scatter and cause the infestation of ants to split into various groups which will make the problem worsen.
Industry experts agree that Argentine ants are best left to a licensed pest control professional.